Monterey's craft breweries can scarcely produce enough to meet demand, local chefs regularly concoct beer-themed dinners, and premium drafts flow from a record number of taps. How the world of beer has changed.

"Beer used to be a choice between light or regular, or if you really wanted something different, you had a Heineken," said Dory Ford, former executive chef at Ventana and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. "Now there's as much effort and skill being put into brewing as there is into wine - and beer dinners don't cost as much."

Since Ford's catering company took over Point Pinos Grill in Pacific Grove last year, he and chef Tom Stutzman have staged a half dozen "beermaker" dinners, pairing appetizers and four courses with flights of beer from Firestone, North Coast and Speakeasy, among others. Next up: Uncommon Brewery on Jan. 18.

It was English Ales Brewery in nearby Marina that provided Ford with an "aha moment" about beer at a brewer's dinner, in 2009. "There really is more to life than just wine dinners," Ford recalled.

English Ales Brewery co-owner Peter Blackwell, born and raised in England, used to run a Salinas pub, "mostly because we didn't like the typical big breweries like Budweiser, Pabst and Coors," he said.

When that venture ended, Blackwell opened English Ales after persuading an English brewery to license four of its beers for stateside production, including some of the traditional cask-conditioned varieties he savored on annual trips home. "Fresh beer is always better," he said.

According to Blackwell, sales have quadrupled since he opened English Ales 12 years ago, with draft outlets at Laguna Seca Raceway, the Tap Room at Pebble Beach and the Fernwood Resort in Big Sur. Some 1,200 mugs of local patrons hang from the ceiling in the brewery's cozy bar, which serves the "authentically English" core line and seasonal brews such as this month's Good King Senseless winter ale from brewmaster Tom Hodges.

"As we grow, we buy more equipment," Blackwell said. "We're beginning to look for additional space for another brew house."

Sales at Peter B's Brewpub in Monterey have also increased, about 35 percent since brewmaster Kevin Clark took over a year ago and changed all the recipes, including the yeast strains. The surging demand from the pub, which is hidden behind the Portola Hotel, required a cellar expansion last summer.

"Now that we have more equipment, it allows us to keep up with our five house beers and put out seasonals like the pumpkin ale," Clark explained. Even so, by mid-November the pub was almost out of the nearly 450 gallons of the latter, made with local organic pumpkin and "spiced just a little bit, with a nice nose and body," Clark said.

His next seasonal release, a collaboration with Acme Coffee Roasting in Seaside, is a Russian coffee imperial stout - just the kind of beer that the brew pub's chef, Jason Giles, might cook down into a syrup and put over a dish at one of his frequent brewer's dinners. Those take place at a communal table and begin with popcorn in gourmet flavors (lime salt, wasabi and most recently "deconstructed Bearnaise"), usually paired with Clark's ale.

Another Monterey brew pub, Cannery Row Brewing Company, boasts 73 taps, reputedly the largest selection in Northern California. Fog-lifting fire pits add charm and warmth to the outdoor space. And a short drive away in Sand City you'll find No Bills Craft Brewhouse, which features 14 rotating beers on tap, such as Clark's 40-Acre Pale Ale, plus more than 100 international and domestic craft brews in bottles to drink on site or take home.

"The rise in local beer has a lot to do with people enjoying local craft altogether - the local bakery, the local coffee roasters," Clark said. "You can get a large corporate-made beer anywhere, but to get a local beer, you have to seek it out, and it tends to be a really fun place."